First Hop Harvest

So after 2 years of growing I had my first hop harvest. It was a very small amount, just 0.4 ounces of Cascade after being dried, but I'll take it. Just enough to add to a beer and say I used my own hops to suppliment.

 

I had a few hop cones on my US Tettnag, but they ended up dying in the heat. I'm hopefully that what I learned about the plants this year that I can do much better next year!

Burrs continue to Pop Up

My Cascade plant is the only one that has any burrs this year. I'm not that disappointed. I'm just happy that I can see it for the first time from at least one variety. Burrs continue to pop out at ever leaf level as it climbs.

A lot of the cones have brown tips. Not sure what that means so I'm going to have to research. Wonder if it could just be the intense daily heat and sun that is just scorching them. Either way, there appears to be plenty of burrs that I should take at least some harvest this year, even if just a few ounces. I'll take that!

Cascade Has Plenty of Burrs

I continue to heavily water the hops in this near 100 degree heat and they seem to love it, especially the Cascade. I noticed the other day that burrs are starting to form. Very exciting! I thought I saw some burrs last year, but I now know they were just the arms forming. None of the other plants are showing signs of burrs but I'll settle on just one variety this year as a start. Maybe those other plants will surprise me before the end of the season.

Hops Need Water....Duh

Last spring was one of the rainest times in Cincinnati history. I had poor drainage for my hops and my US Tettnang spent much of the spring under water. I felt that was a reason for a disappointing first season. My plants (4 varieties) didn't get that tall and I didn't even get one cone.

I built up the bed last fall and felt I gave my hops a much better growning enviornment and they started off this season great. But as of 2 weeks ago most of my plants were only around 6 feet tall. What was I doing wrong? I'm now certain it was a lack of water during this current spring. I was so afraid of overwatering after last year that this year I likely didn't water enough.

Now that it is in the mid 90s everyday, I've tried to get out there and water daily and the hops are taking off! The Cascade and Mt. Hood are easily growing  a few inches a day and the Cascade is putting out a ton of arms. Everything I've read said that they need plenty of water. I tried to keep them wet during this past spring and early summer, but it wasn't anywhere close to enough I now know.

So my plan is to continue to water them daily while its hot and hope for the best. Now for next year, a much stricker watering schedule earlier in the spring. Though I know I won't have a great yield, I'd love to at least get some cones this season! Time will tell.

Don't Cry Over Leaked Beer...Though I wanted too

Been a while since I posted so thought I'd post about a few things...

Hops
Things are progressing nicely. All the plants look healthy and have plenty of bines. None of them are as impressive as I'd hope for as warm as the spring started, but I'm being patient. I put some compost down a few weeks ago. I may try some basic fertilizer like Miracle Gro soon to see what happens.

Brewing
Been brewing around once a month. Nothing in the fermentor now as I kegged 15 gals of beer and cider last week. So my kegerator is full with 5 kegs for the first time ever. I still need to post some pictures of that finished kegerator project. I plan to brew again the weekend of May 12.

Cider
Finally kegged a cider. Have had it conditioning since the middle of November. I back sweetened with 1 can of apple juice concentrate because it was bone dry and pretty tart due to the type of apples.

BJCP
I've been studying to be a BJCP judge. I passed the new online entrance exam a few weeks ago. I'm taking the tasting portion this upcoming Saturday. If you plan to take the online exam...know your styles!! The exam was very difficult. So know your stuff and use the study guide. Did I mention, know your styles!

Reason for Post Title As I mentioned above, I kegged a bunch of stuff last week. Well I got home from a trip this past weekend and I to check on the progress of the carbonation. To my sadness, there was a ton of beer at the bottom of the kegerator. Come to find I have a leak in my beverage connection. After I soaked it all up, I measure 2 gallons of lost beer! It's a Munich Helles and my first attempt at a lager. I've been waiting on this beer since January. Needless to say, I was pretty pissed. But oh well, guess I have to brew more to fill the keg.

Hop Season 2012 Underway!

The 2012 hops growing season is officially underway. The constant rain and highs in the mid 70s for almost a week now has allowed all 4 varieties of hops to break ground. The Casacade definitely has the best head start with the US Tettnang not far behind. The Mt. Hood and Willamette are just barely showing their eyes. I'm very excited for this season as it is year two. I'm so hopeful that I will get my first cone as last year I had a ton of foliage but no cones. Here's to a great growing season!

Hop Growth Already? It's only February!!!

It has been very mild this winter. We've only seen 2" of snow/ice in the Cincinnati area and there are many days where the temperatures are 10 to 20 degrees above normal. I can see that some of the local trees and roses are already trying to show signs of wanting to bud. I thought, what the heck, I'll go out and look to see if the hops are doing anything. We'll...ummm, they are!! Its only the first week of February and they are starting to show their heads. My plan is to put a layer of soil on them this week so if we see any snow or any extreme cold for the balance of winter that they may get some protection. I don't like that the rhizome is this exposed. Its has been a very rainy winter and it looks like the soil is starting to erode, so I should cover them up anyway to replenish what has been washed away.

Hop Season 2011 in the Books

Today was the official end of my first hop growing season. I'm not even sure I can say that I grew hops this year. I grew bines, but got zero cones. I have to admit I'm pretty disappointed, but oh well, we'll try again next year.

In preparation of 2012, I made some changes to my beds. After cutting down my bines today, I dug up the root bulb. I then build up the beds with 2 courses of Castlewall stone. To try to condition the soil better, I added a bunch of peat moss to help break up the clay as well as some quality potting soil.

With the hops raised up, this should drain water much better. After I got them in the ground, I put a nice layer of peat moss over top of them to give them a blanket for winter.

I was sad to cut the bines down. With each snip I hoped that I was doing everything right to give them the best chance for some form of harvest next year. I just have to remember, they are pretty hardy plants and are build to survive. I (as well as mother nature) may have not given them the best conditions this year to flower, but I'm sure as hell trying my hardest to get them ready for next year.

Hops - Compost

For the last year or so I've been composting. I found the design for a wooden box in a "This Old House" magazine and thought it would be a good idea to start doing it with all our scrap fruits, veggies, coffee grounds and egg shells. I also put all my spent grains and used to put in my yeast before I began harvesting it.

So this morning I went out and put a few shovels full of the compost (which was nice and dark after months of decomposition) on the hops and a bunch of other plants in the yard. I'm excited to see what it does for all the plants over the next few weeks. I was debating doing another batch of the epsom salt and blood meal cocktail but figured let me see how this works before adding more nutrients.

Its been so hot here in Southwest Ohio and I've watered the hops every other day. The seems to really enjoy the heat.

Hops - Maybe I was wrong about the burrs

My last post mentioned that I thought I had burrs. The more and more I look at them I'm starting to think that maybe I was wrong. What I thought was burrs just continues to grow leaves and filling out the bines. The Mt. Hood which had the "burrs" continues to grow and fill out with no signs of a flower. Of course I'll continue to watch it, but I probably jumped the gun for burr production. :(

Hops - Burrs that Jingle Jangle Jingle

Honestly, a week or so ago I wasn't sure what the progression of hops growth was. So I looked it up and found a picture of what to look for in burr production. Little did I know, I actually had some (or at least I believe they are). I went out and saw that pretty much all the plants are showing some signs of burrs with the Mt. Hood doing the best.

From the pictures I saw and reading, they looks like little off shoots from the vine right underneath the leaves. Now we'll have to wait and see what happens next!

Hops - Nutrient Deficient?

Its been around two months since my hops went into the ground. The Cascade and Mt. Hood are not doing to bad, but the Willamette and U.S. Tettnang are definitely lagging behind. I took a look in "The Hombrewers Garden" to see what my next steps are as the season continues. There was a section on nutrient deficiencies that caught my eye.

Most of my plants have yellow leaves toward the bottom and in some cases like the Tettnang it is starting to climb up the vine. I also feel like the plants growth has slowed down a lot even though you'd think this would be the time for them to shine.

The book suggest for stunted growth and yellow leaves before the end of the season to add nitrogen. Forms of nitrogen are fresh compost, manure, or fertilizers like fish emulsion or blood meal.

For lower leaves that turn yellow and then brown and start to die up the vine that the soil may be lacking magnesium. Epsom salt is a good source of magnesium.

Both of these seem to be my issues. So I did some research on the web to find out how much of the nutrients I would need to add. I decided to go with fish emulsion (which I found at Lowes) and an epsom salt combination as suggested by one forum. I used a water solution of 1 tablespoon fish emulsion fertilizer (per the label) and 1/4 tsp epsom salt per gallon of water and made two gallons (doubled the nutrients). The post said "Magnesium is the first micronutrient that hops crave when the pH of their root environment is too high. If you are only tending a small hop garden, try using fish emulsion with your water to acidify it. This will make magnesium in your soil more available to the plants."

We'll see over the next few weeks if I've made the right call by adding these nutrients. More to come.....

Hops - 2011 - Heat Does a Hop Good

Now that the rains have stopped and its getting very hot here in Southwest Ohio, the hops seem to really enjoy the new conditions. They are growing tall rather quickly and the leaves are definitely getting larger. The tallest bine is likely close to 6 feet tall. Here are the latest pictures of the crop.

Below is the Mt Hood. In this first season, I likely won't cut back any bines so I can give the roots a chance to really take hold this year.

For those of Irish descent out there, I thought you'd like the new center piece on the swing that separates the trellis'. Its a working claddagh weather vane we got for our wedding years back.

Hops - 2011 - Hanging by a String

Now that the rains have stopped the hops have really started to grow. With the growth, I've strung them up.

There's a matching configuration on the other side fo the swing.

The Tettnang seems like it may be struggling from being too wet. There are a few shoots, but one has already died off and unfortunately the best looking shoot is starting to yellow from the bottom up.....boooo! I'm hoping with the heat this week the ground will dry out and the other few shoot will take off. Until the ground dries, I'm not going to assume it is anything else but the VERY soggy ground.

Above is the Tettnag. Look at the slight yellowing on the lower leaves on the left plant.

The Mt Hood continues to be the best plant. Tons of shoots and a lot of activity.

Stands just shy of 2 feet I'd say.

The Cascade is the new hero plant. This is definitely growing the most aggressive in the last few days.

The Willamette was the slowest to break ground and is by far the smallest plant. One of the shoots has done well in the last few days so I'm hopefully this variety has made its turn toward thriving.

And for your viewing pleasure, here's the starter I was cooking up while I took the hop pictures. More on this brew day after the weekend.

Frost in May?

Temperatures in Cincinnati are expected to get down into the mid 30s tonight. What is going on with the weather lately?! Put cardboard boxes around all of my hops to try to keep them from getting frosted. I'm pretty confident it will work, but we'll see come morning.

Another few rounds of rain this week. The Tettnang is really getting beat up with all the moisture. It is by far my soggiest plant. If it survives this year, I may try to relocate it next year. I figure I've committed to it in the ground already, just let it ride. One of the shoots on the Tettnang has started to die but the others so far look healthy.

The Mt. Hood is by far the best (as I've stated in previous post) and hearing from other folks, this appears to be their best too. Has done well in the rain and the little sun we have had over the last week has helped it grow quickly.

If I get around to it, I may start to string up the Mt. Hood which is around 2 feet and the Tettnang which is maybe just over a foot. I'm running them off the same pole so since I'll be up on the ladder might as well do both. The Willamette and Cascade are a LONG away from needing string so I'll do those in a few week.

Coming Up Short of the Record

It looks like Cincinnati is going to come up just shy of the all time record rain fall in a month. We currently stand at 13.51" for the month with the record for any month at 13.68" set back in January 1937. Though I've hated the amount of rain we've had, to come this close to the record and not break it will be disappointing. There doesn't seem to be any rain in the forecast today or tomorrow, the last day of the month. I think most folks in the Midwest have seen enough rain for a while, so hopefully we dry out some over the upcoming weeks.

Edit (5/1/11) - We did come up just short, the final number for the month was 13.52". Funny thing though, it is raining today.
The hops plants are still progressing, but slowly. The ground is just so damp and we have had only 3 days of sun the entire month. We should see some sun over the next few days which should start to dry out the ground and perk some growth.

I'll plan to put some updated pictures later in the week after they perk up in the sun.

Record Rainfall in Cincinnati

This weekend, Cincinnati set a new all time record for rainfall in the month of April. As of Sunday morning, the monthly rain total was 10.86" breaking the old April record of 9.77". We are not working toward the all-time record rainfall of all time for the region. The current record for any month is 13.68" set back in January 1937. We could make a really close push toward that level with 7 days left in this month and rain forecasted daily.

My hop plants are feeling the impact of all this rain. The ground around them are soggy like a wet sponge. Hopefully it will dry out a little bit and warm up cause if not I think i'll have a worry about root rot at some point in the future. Its crazy how saturated the ground is and the plants are pretty slow to grow due to the amount of water and lack of sunlight.

On a positive note, my grass is as lush and green as a pro baseball field right now!

Hops - 2011 - All 4 Varieties Showing Life

All 4 varieties are now showing signs of life. The Cascade and Willamette that I purchased from my Local Home Brew Shop (LHBS) were much slower to break ground than the other two varieties (Mt Hood and US Tettnang) that were clipping from a friend. I'd expect the two purchased rhizomes to not do as well as the other "free" ones this first season. We'll see.

Both the Cascade and Willamette only have 2-3 shoots showing. This is the best picture of the Willamette.



The Cascade is still very brown/purple and really tough to pick out (no picture posted)

Here are some updated pictures of the Mt. Hood......

......and the US Tettnang starting to climb on the tomato cage I have in place.

To keep the dog and kids out, I set up some rabbit guard to protect the plants in a quater-circle shape. I have this same design mirrored on the other side of the swing.

To try to keep the plant spaced around 5 feet apart, I have them situated at the far corner of the fence and then the front pole of the swing. That angles gives me the distance I need. But in the future I'll likely have to be diligent about keeping the roots cut so they don't tangle each other underground.



Hops - 2011 - Mt Hood / U.S. Tettnang

Been pretty warm and wet here in Cincinnati the last couple of days and that was enough to kick start the first set up if rhizomes I planted. The US Tettnang already had some sprouts when they were given to me, but now the Mt. Hood has broken ground and I swear grew in the 3 hours from when I got home and then took this picture.

Mt Hood breaking ground.



US Tettnang had a great start with a few sprouts before putting it in the ground and it is already growing more.

The weather continues to look unseasonably warm into next week so hopefully that will help the Cascade and Willamette along.

Hops - 2011 - Cascade and Willamette

Got my last two varieties in the ground yesterday. Two rhizomes of Cascade and Willamette each. The Willamette rhizones were a good size but the Cascades are pretty small. We are supposed to have a warm week with some precip so hoping that kick starts some growth.

Cascade

Willamette